What connects host nations, first futsal finals and fundamental functions? The unlikely answer is a man from Maastricht who planned on ending his playing career before the men’s tournament got going and relaxing in his retirement chair before the women’s one does.

Vic Hermans bought a bar and a sports shop in the late 1980s as he sought to swap using indoor shoes for a businessman’s suit. Then he heard not only that the maiden FIFA Futsal World Cup™ was taking place, but that his native Netherlands was hosting it.

Hermans went home with a silver medal, the Golden Ball, as a retired player and as his country’s new assistant gaffer. Beers and sportswear were put on the back burner. The futsal nut embarked on a coaching career that would see him work in 10 countries.

He planned on calling it a day in his mid-60s, but Hermans’ insatiable passion for the sport has kept him going. Now the 71-year-old finds himself ready to lead host nation Philippines into the inaugural FIFA Women’s Futsal World Cup in 2025.

Hermans took time out to speak to FIFA about Netherlands 1991, being named its MVP and the best players he’s ever seen.

What was it like playing in the Netherlands’ first-ever futsal international against Belgium in 1977?
Vic Hermans: Belgium were our neighbouring country. It was the easiest way to start. The rules were completely different to now. Now you have a low-bounce ball, but back then we played with a normal ball, the referee had a flag. It was a very different game to what you now see, but it was a nice feeling to have a Holland national team.

You were so good at futsal that Ajax wanted you to give 11-a-side a try, right?
Yeah. We played them in a tournament. Their coach came to me after the game and asked why I didn’t play football. It was a nice compliment, but that’s all it was to me. In life you have choices to make. Nowadays, when a kid signs a contract, he’s a millionaire. It wasn’t like this back then. You worked during the day, played football in the evening. I heard some criticism of my decision in the newspapers, but it’s ok. I liked playing football, but my passion was futsal.

How did you feel when you heard the Netherlands would host the first FIFA Futsal World Cup?
It was a great moment. We went from playing Belgium in our debut to the four-nation tournament with Spain and Italy and then to the World Cup. Holland won the European Championship in football in ’۸۸٫ There was a lot of excitement in the country because of football, and we had a lot of [futsal] halls, so I think it was a logical step to have the first Futsal World Cup there. As a player, it was very exciting to be able to play a World Cup in your home country, and even more so because it was the first one.

Did the announcement of the first FIFA Futsal World Cup make you postpone your retirement from playing?
Yeah. I was 36 at the time. It was quite an age for a football player back then. I was playing in Belgium at the time, but I was thinking about retiring. I had started my own businesses. I had a bar, a sports shop. When the World Cup was announced, my coach, Mr [Ron] Groenewoud, who was like my father, said, ‘Ok, you come to the World Cup as a player and then you become my assistant.’ That was the start of my coaching career.

The Netherlands had an amazing tournament, finishing second, while you won its Golden Ball. How proud are you of that?
As a player, you think about losing the final to Brazil. We also lost to Belgium, which wasn’t nice. In my opinion it was an up-and-down tournament for us. When you look back, yeah, we had some good moments. It was nice to have so many national teams from all over the world playing in Holland. I was thinking at the time that it would be the start of taking futsal in Holland to a much more professional level. As for the award, it went down on my record, but individual awards never meant too much to me. I’ve never been one to use things like that to sell myself.

Who is the best player you’ve ever seen?
Falcao was on fire for a period, but I think he was finished in 2016. Individually, Falcao was very good, he was a fantastic player to watch. The problem was when he lost the ball, like [Lionel] Messi, he didn’t defend and in futsal, you need every player to defend. Before Falcao, Manoel Tobias was a great player. Then came Ricardinho. He was very, very, very good. He was a little guy, so strong, had amazing skills, scored amazing goals, and had such passion for his teams. Edwin Grunholz could have been the best. He had incredible talent, scored so many goals, but he didn’t live to be the number one. One time when I was coaching him at a tournament in Latvia, I saw him in the bar after a game and said, ‘Ah, you’re drinking a Coca-Cola’. He was so honest and said, ‘Actually coach it’s a Bacardi and Cola’. That was him. [Konstantin] Eremenko, who sadly died, was another great player, but I think internationally Ricardinho was one of the very best.